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Game Changing Development

Synthetic Biological Membrane (SBM)

Project Introduction

The ultimate goal of the Synthetic Biological Membrane project is to develop a new type of membrane that will enable the wastewater treatment system required on exploration missions to operate for extended periods while requiring no maintenance, and using only available resources. Because current water treatment systems have a lifetime of less than 1 year, extending membrane life will benefit exploration missions by reducing upmass and crew time requirements associated with maintenance and resupply/replacement of membranes. The project will use synthetic biology to engineer organisms that create and replenish the membrane, and this new technology can be easily adapted for use in terrestrial waste water treatment plants.

Anticipated Benefits

The Space Synthetic Biology (SSB) project can improve the reliability and reduce the mass, power, and volume of NASA’s next generation life support systems, particularly on ISS, based on lessons learned showing that "reliability" is the major limitation of ISS technology. SSB objective is to improve subsystem reliability by integrating biological and mechanical systems to create a new type of biomechanical subsystem. Improved reliability leads to a reduction in the amount of material, or mass, that would otherwise be required to be launched, leading to increase efficiency, in both time and cost.